How to Shape Career into SAP HANA - Steps to be with SAP HANA

Everyone has to start somewhere. And yes, I was a SAP HANA beginner at one time, too (going back to the first days of BW Accelerator). The great news is that we have a wealth of information and plenty of learning

opportunities about SAP HANA out there and much of it is available for free!

Are you new to and want to learn about SAP HANA? Congratulations and welcome to the SAP HANA community! In the world of SAP HANA, you want

to learn fast, of course. So in the spirit of “Accelerated Learning” (Four Phases of Learning), I suggest a few steps for you to get started. Just

understand that you can spend hours or days behind each link below and get lost in cyberspace. Bookmark this blog so you always have a place to come

back to continue your SAP HANA journey.

Note: This blog covers SAP HANA as a database and platform. We will have to cover learning about specific applications that run on top of SAP HANA

another time.

Phase 1: Explore

As a first step, browse the SAP websites and see what others have done or

plan to do with SAP HANA. This can be very exciting especially if have some aha-moments like “Wow, I didn’t think this was possible” or “Awesome, I will

try this myself” or even better “Spectacular, I will use SAP HANA for my start-up company and become rich”.

SAP HANA Solutions Overview

SAP HANA Database Highlights

What Is and Why Use SAP HANA?

SAP HANA Use Case Library

Phase 2: Learn

By now you should have an understanding of what you can or want to do

with SAP HANA and you wish to know more about in-memory technology and the SAP HANA solution. There are many different learning styles. Pick

the one that suites you most.

SAP HANA Essentials (eBook)

SAP HANA: An Introduction (Hardcopy Book)

SAP HANA Curriculum (Classroom and E-Learning)

SAP HANA Tutorials for Self-Study *New

SAP HANA Online Training Videos Sessions *New

SAP HANA Accademy (E-learning)

Many Books about SAP HANA (Hardcopy and Kindle)

Open Online Courses Delivered by SAP *New

In-Memory Data Management by Hasso Plattner Institut (Online

Course)

Phase 3: Exercise

If you haven’t done so, now is the perfect time to register on two SAP

websites that are essential for your success. This will give you access to a tremendous amount of SAP HANA know-how and the ability to collaborate

with likeminded ‘HANAnauts’. And it’s free!

SAP Community Network (Register)

Experience SAP HANA website (Register)

SAP HANA Live Server Access (Register) *New

So far it has been all theory and it’s time to “get your hands dirty”. Again there are various options available from instructor led classroom training to

try-it-yourself SAP HANA in the cloud environments.

SAP HANA Education Curriculum (Classroom and E-Learning)

SAP HANA related sessions at SAP TechEd 2013 (Lectures and Hands-

on) / SAP TechEd 2012 Archive

Developer Center for SAP HANA (Trial Access and Much More)

The HANA Seminar by SAPinsider *New

At this point everything is still pretty new for you and a long URL is better

than a short memory. Be sure to bookmark the online documentation or

download it in PDF format to your computer (but be sure to check back regularly – at least for every SAP HANA support package stack which are

currently released every six months). You also want to save links to the SAP Community Network and this website where you can collaborate with other

who have paved the path before you.

SAP HANA Platform Software (Online Documentation)

SAP Community for SAP HANA (Discussion Forum)

SAP HANA Resources (Discussion Forum)

You might have questions or get stuck during your project. No problem. Help is just a few clicks away.

SAP HANA Developer Center (Post a Question)

SAP HANA Ask the Expert (Post a Question)

Phase 4: Implement

Your company decided to license and implement SAP HANA. Congratulations

again! You are officially an SAP Customer (if you haven’t been already before) and with it you get access to more resources.

SAP HANA Installation & Implementation Knowledge Center (Online

Documentation Archive)

SAP Online Knowledge Products for SAP HANA (Learning Maps)

SAP Enterprise Support Academy (for SAP HANA)

Deployment Best Practice for SAP HANA

And if your SAP HANA software does not work as expected and you suspect

a product error, don’t be afraid to report the incident so SAP Support can analyse the issue:

SAP Incident Wizard for SAP HANA

Phase 5: Follow

Wait, weren’t there four phases to accelerated learning? Right, but it’s a fast paced world and SAP HANA is speeding along quite nicely. It’s essential to

stay in touch and follow along on one or many of our social media channels:

Subscribe to SAP HANA Blogs

Follow SAP HANA on Twitter

Join the LinkedIn Group for SAP HANA

Like SAP HANA on Facebook

Watch SAP HANA on YouTube

View SAP HANA presentations on Slideshare

SAP HANA Careers

Many of you would like some advice on how to turn your SAP HANA knowledge into a career and find a job (and make lots of money of course).

There are endless opportunities and depending on your background you

might want to take a different path to success. Rather than going into detail here, I refer you to an excellent blog series by John Appleby who put

together “The SAP HANA Career Guide”. Becoming certified will increase your chance of getting hired. Check it out. If you are ready to apply for a

job, you might want to take a look at the interview questions that some have compiled.

“The SAP HANA Career Guide” – Overview / Detailed Job Profiles

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding SAP Certification & Career Opportunities

SAP HANA Interview Questions

SAP HANA Certification Online Practice Exams

Finally, here are some resources for the complete beginners to SAP (That

was me about 17 years ago). I like the Blue Book which gives you great insight into the world of SAP projects.

SAP Blue Book

Using SAP: A Guide for Beginners and End Users

Discover SAP

Excellent, you made it through to the end. Overwhelmed? Just start at the

top and take it step-by-step and soon you, too, will become an SAP HANA expert. As always we appreciate your feedback. Let us know what’s missing

or how we can make adopting SAP HANA a more beautiful experience for you.